All the 15 players in the squad were sold for INR 12 crore and above
The Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction concluded over a two-day affair in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. All the franchises collectively spent nearly INR 640 crore, surpassing the previous record of INR 551 in 2022. Several players, especially those with proven records in T20, were sold for hefty price tags. This also included a World Cup-winning squad comprising 15 players who were all sold for a minimum of INR 12 crore.
This squad in question is our own squad, the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 winning squad, in which all the 15 players garnered big bucks from various franchises.
Two players made it to the 20-crore club, with Rishabh Pant becoming the most expensive player in the history of the IPL. After an intense bidding session among Lucknow Super Giants, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Delhi Capitals. Finally, it was Lucknow Super Giants who made a bid of 27 crore, and Delhi chose not to match the bid—Pant went to Delhi.
The second player in the 20-crore club is Virat Kohli, who was retained for 21 crore by Royal Challengers Bengaluru. He didn’t go under the hammer, and his association with Bengaluru remains intact since 2018.
Five players from the World Cup-winning squad ended with a price-tag of INR 18 crore. Sanju Samson was retained by Rajasthan Royals, and so was the case of Ravindra Jadeja, who was retained by Chennai Super Kings. Jasprit Bumrah, too, was retained by Mumbai Indians, becoming their most expensive retained player in 2024.
On the other hand, Arshdeep Singh wasn’t retained by Punjab Kings, but the Kings used their Right-to-Match card and acquired Singh for INR 18 crore. Chahal was also purchased by Punjab Kings for 18 crore, becoming the most expensive spinner in IPL history.
Four players of 16 crore each were not purchased but retained by teams. Out of four, Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya were retained for INR 16.30 crore and INR 16.35 crore, respectively, by the Mumbai Indians. The team on the western coast of India also retained Suryakumar Yadav for INR 16.35 crore.
Axar Patel is the fourth player who was retained by the Delhi Capitals at INR 16.50 crore.
Apart from Axar Patel, the Delhi Capitals also retained Kuldeep Yadav at INR 13.25 crore. On the other hand, Shivam Dube was retained by Chennai Super Kings at INR 12 crore. The last member of the 15-member squad, Md. Siraj was acquired by Gujarat Titans for INR 12.25 crore.
The T20 World Cup-winning squad all had four reserve players, such as Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Avesh Khan, and Khaleel Ahmed.
Gujarat Titans retained Gill for INR 16.50 crore, whereas Kolkata Knight Riders kept Rinku Singh for INR 13 crore. Indore’s Avesh Khan was purchased for INR 9.75 by Lucknow Super Giants, and the last piece of the set, Khaleel Ahmed, was sold to Chennai for INR 4.80 crore.
